Does anyone know if there is anything (aside from dealer markup) to warrant the higher price of the Brembo rotors on the 03-04 6mt? Better metallurgy? Expensive coating? Something in the casting process or post-casting machining?

I bought the slotted brembo rotors on tirerack for my 03 6MT coupe, so I'm not looking to buy or justify the more expensive OEM rotors. I'm just kinda curious.Even a dealership is sensitive to market forces, when there is competition (and there is competition for brake components). So that has me wondering if there is actually something about the manufacturing costs of the OEM rotors that would cause Infiniti and the dealer to maintain such a high price, even in the face of readily-available, lower-priced alternatives.

 

Thats easy, they get the rotors from brembo, which already has a markup on their parts, which the dealers then have to mark up further to make a profit, hence the high price compared to other OEM rotors which have less markup by the middleman

 

I'm thinking there's more to it than that (i.e., paying for the Brembo brand). Brembo makes all kinds of brakes, at all price levels, not just fancy racing brakes. The rotors I put on my wife's 2000 TL were Brembos, and as I recall they were less than $100/axle. You can buy a pair of slotted, Brembo-brand rotors from Tirerack for the G35 for less than the cost of 1 Brembo OEM rotor from Infiniti.

All dealer markup? Or something else?

 

did your wife have brembo brake calipers or just honda calipers...brembo rotors for non brembo setups are cheaper...they are also smaller

 

The OEM Brembo rotors are different than the aftermarket Brembo blanks. The OEM ones are softer than the aftermarkets, which (supposedly) yields better initial bite and shorter stopping when combined with the OEM Brembo pads. They are also softer so that you can replace rotors and pads at the same time.

That being said, when it's time to replace mine, I plan to go with the dba 4000 rotors. I have heard from others that these work great with OEM Brembo pads, are heat treated from the factory, are a lot cheaper, last a bit longer, and there is no dropoff in bite.

 

That's why it's called a St(D)ealer. My dealer would love to sell me tires but his prices are higher than the highest prices I have found anywhere else. Are his Bridgestones somehow better? His installation and alignment is also teh highest I have seen. I only go to the stealer for warranty work and even then, I cringe at the thought of them touching my car with a wrench. They are about speed and profit for the labor dollar.

Whether the OEM Brembo's are somehow different than the non-OEM Brembos is probably irrelevant compared to the mark-up a dealer puts on them, regardless.

I have motorcycles and the stealer for my brand charges 10% over retail for parts. I shop online but there are plenty of idiots that will blindly hand over the money... The stealer is counting on it.

 

It's Econ 101. Economies of scale. There is a very limited market for replacement rotors for the G/Z oem brembo package equipped sized rotors.

Hence the higher price. Plain and simple.

 

Thanks, everyone, for the replies

 

I got brembo front rotors from my tacoma that were like $150 bucks. I would kill to get brembo rotors at that price.